Jackson v. Katy Independent School District

951 F. Supp. 1293, 1996 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 20880
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Texas
DecidedJune 8, 1996
DocketCivil Action No. H-95-0280
StatusPublished
Cited by29 cases

This text of 951 F. Supp. 1293 (Jackson v. Katy Independent School District) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Jackson v. Katy Independent School District, 951 F. Supp. 1293, 1996 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 20880 (S.D. Tex. 1996).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

ATLAS, District Judge.

Pending before the Court is Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment [Doc. # 19]. For the reasons discussed below, Defendants’ Motion is granted, and Plaintiffs Complaint is dismissed. The Court cannot and should not become an arbiter of classroom disciplinary disputes absent clear proof of intentional discrimination, which simply has not been shown in this case.

I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

Brison Jackson (“Brison”) is a bi-raeial teenager who was 13 years-old when this lawsuit was filed in December 1994. His mother, Natalie Jackson, is white and his father, Hubert Jackson, is African-American.

In 1993, Brison was a seventh grade student at T.H. McDonald Junior High School (“McDonald”) in Katy, Texas. Plaintiffs al[1296]*1296lege that, from the start of the 1993-94 school year, Brison was treated differently than non-minority students at McDonald, and was denied rights during that school year to which he was entitled under McDonald’s code of conduct, discipline policies, and team rules. Plaintiffs allege that, as the year progressed, Plaintiff was subjected to the following discriminatory conduct:

1. Brison was issued conduct slips, lunch detentions, and after school detentions, when non-minority students engaged in the same or similar behavior and received no discipline whatsoever, or discipline less severe than that visited upon Brison;
2. non-minority students were allowed to explain a particular incident or situation to a teacher, while Brison was punished without regard for the underlying circumstances;
3. if Brison tried to explain a situation he was punished further, while non-minority students received no such discipline, or discipline of a lesser degree;
4. Mr. and Mrs. Jackson were never contacted prior to the school’s imposing discipline on Brison;
5. a false and/or misleading document was placed in Brison’s student file despite knowledge by McDonald that that document was in fact false and/or misleading;1
6. conduct slips and detentions were issued to Brison in violation of school policies and team rules;
7. Brison was verbally attacked and humiliated in front of other students by one of his teachers, while non-minority students were not treated in the same manner;
8. Brison was not allowed to change his class schedule or teacher(s), while non-minority students could do so without interference; 2
9. Brison’s school team designation was changed without notification to his parents; and
10.Brison was prevented from continuing • to participate in the athletic program at McDonald.

Plaintiffs allege that, as a result of these incidents, Mrs. Jackson contacted Dr. Hugh Hayes (“Hayes”), Superintendent of Katy Independent School District (“KISD”), Aubrey Woods (‘Woods”), McDonald’s Assistant Principal, and Linda Bailey, a McDonald student counselor, in mid-September 1993, and requested that Brison be allowed to change his schedule (his English class, in particular), as several non-minority students allegedly had done. This request was apparently denied by Woods and McDonald’s Principal, Danny Bryan (“Bryan”).

In late September 1993, the Jacksons again contacted Woods, stating their belief (among other concerns) that Brison was being discriminated against because he was a bi-racial student, while non-minority children were afforded greater freedom in class and not disciplined as was their son. The Jack-sons also notified Hayes, the Texas Education Agency, and the Office for Civil Rights of the alleged continuing problems at McDonald.

On or about October 2, 1993, the Jacksons wrote to the members of the KISD School Board requesting an investigation of discrimination at McDonald. Plaintiffs received no direct response from the Board. In late October 1993, the Jacksons were informed by Hayes that parental concerns should be voiced to the principal at the campus level.

The Jacksons continued updating Bryan, Woods, Hayes, the KISD School Board members, the Texas Education Agency, and the Office for Civil Rights regarding what they perceived as the increased discipline of, and retaliation against their son. As a direct result of their attempts to remedy the situation at McDonald, according to Plaintiffs, Bryan instructed several teachers to monitor Brison. In addition, several teachers named in the Jacksons’ letters to the Office of Civil Rights allegedly retaliated against Brison [1297]*1297and Ms parents by continuing to violate McDonald’s code of conduct, discipline rules, and team rules.

Plaintiffs allege that the continuing discrimination, and KISD’s failure to prevent its occurrence, caused Brison to suffer emotional distress. Due to Ms condition, Brison was allegedly forced to miss numerous days of school, absences wMch (accordmg to Plaintiffs) caused increased anxiety because Bri-son was constantly being forced to catch up. Moreover, Brison was allegedly ridiculed by teachers when he did attend school and, on one occasion, was sarcastically asked by one of his teachers if he had a “problem.”

Brison was allegedly retaliated against throughout the seventh grade school year for Ms parents’ repeated complaints of discrimination. Dissatisfied with a suggestion by the Deputy Superintendent to meet with the principal and teacher(s) in question, Plaintiffs filed tMs lawsmt m state court on December 22, 1994. Defendants removed the case to federal court on January 30,1995.

Plaintiffs bring the followmg claims against KISD and Bryan:

1. discrimination, hostile environment and retaliation claims under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000d (“Title VI”);
2. race-based discrimination claims under 42 U.S.C. §§ 1981,1988 and 1985;
3. negligence and gross negligence; and
4. intentional infliction of emotional distress.

II.SUMMARY JUDGMENT STANDARD

In deciding a motion for summary judgment, the Court must determine whether “the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genume issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c); Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322-23, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2552-53, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986); Little v. Liquid Air Corp.,

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Jones v. Southern University
M.D. Louisiana, 2019
the City of Austin v. Donald Baker
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2018
West Virginia Regional Jail & Correctional Facility Authority v. A.B.
766 S.E.2d 751 (West Virginia Supreme Court, 2014)
Silva v. ST. ANNE CATHOLIC SCHOOL
595 F. Supp. 2d 1171 (D. Kansas, 2009)
Howard v. Feliciano
583 F. Supp. 2d 252 (D. Puerto Rico, 2008)
Kelly v. Rice
375 F. Supp. 2d 203 (S.D. New York, 2005)
Shotz v. City of Plantation, FL
344 F.3d 1161 (Eleventh Circuit, 2003)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
951 F. Supp. 1293, 1996 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 20880, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jackson-v-katy-independent-school-district-txsd-1996.